Northrop to repurchase stock

LOS ANGELES - Northrop Grumman Corp., which has operations in Rolling Meadows, said Thursday that it has approved a plan to buy back up to 11 percent of the company's shares. The Los Angeles aerospace and electronics manufacturer said its board has authorized it to spend $2 billion on the repurchase of common stock. The company has about 300 million shares outstanding, and its shares rose 91 cents to $61.99 in Thursday premarket trading. Northrop Grumman bought 8.3 million of its shares during the first quarter when the company reported net income of $469 million, or $1.53 per share. Revenue increased 9 percent to $8.61 billion. Northrop Grumman said it was awarded $6.9 billion worth of business in the quarter, bringing the company's total backlog to $67.5 billion as of March 31.